Pritzker family at odds over biz strategy

Members of the billionaire Pritzker family have agreed to split up the estimated $15-billion family fortune, possibly leading to a public offering by hotelier Hyatt Corp. and a sell off of the privately held Marmon Group.

But the decision isn't unanimous and is one of the reasons behind a lawsuit recently brought by one of the grandchildren of the late patriarch A.N. Pritzker.

"Our strategy contemplates both long-term reinvestment in our existing businesses and creating liquidity for all family members," said a statement issued late Tuesday by 11 family members.

A family spokesman, however, confirmed that the agreement, reached last year, did not include input from the two youngest grandchildren. One of them--18-year-old Liesel Pritzker--sued her father and other relatives last week, alleging they conspired to reduce her inheritance by more than $1 billion.

The Pritzker spokesman said both sides have agreed to a standstill. "The common plan is to do nothing for 60 days," he said. A spokesman for Ms. Pritzker and her mother Irene said, "I doubt if they're going to want to say anything."

The process of "creating liquidity" means distributing common family assets among the grandchildren of the late A.N. Pritzker and his nephew, Nicholas. Distributing the biggest chunks of the family holdings--Hyatt and Marmon--may require a public offering (in the case of the hotel chain) or liquidation (in the case of industrial-oriented Marmon).

Central to the family dispute is the Pritzker method of treating Nicholas, 57, and the eldest 10 grandchildren of Jay, ranging in age from 52 to 37, as members of one generation and Liesel and her 20-year-old brother, Matthew, as another generation, in effect creating two sets of claims on the inheritance. As members of the younger generation, Liesel and Matthew's claims would be fulfilled after those of Nicholas and the 10 grandchidren.

"That's precisely it," says the family spokesman, pointing out that Liesel and Matthew--offspring of a second marriage by their father, Robert--are younger than some of their cousins' children.

Matthew was neither a party to the lawsuit, nor a signer of the statement issued by the family.